Notes: Teams in all three NASCAR series will run the same tire codes at Dover this week, though the tires for the Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series will be branded "Goodyear Eagle," while the tires for the Camping World Truck Series will be branded "Goodyear Wrangler" . . .
this i
s the same tire combination that Sprint Cup and Nationwide teams ran at Dover last fall . . . additionally, this is the same combination of left- and right-side tires that Cup and Truck teams will run at Michigan in two weeks . . . unlike on most NASCAR ovals one mile or less in length -- on which teams do not run inner liners -- teams are required to run inner liners in all four tire positions at Dover . . .
air pressure in those inner liners should be 12-25 psi greater than that of the outer tire.

ENTRY, PRACTICE, QUALIFYING, AND RACE INFORMATION

Race Results

Keselowski wins at Dover: A wild green-white-checkered finish saw #88 Brad Keselowski take the lead to win the Heluva Good! 200 at Dover International Speedway. #18-Kyle Busch led the most laps, but on the restart, teammate #20-Joey Logano, up on the wheel, got into the back of Busch. Busch cut a tire down managed to stay in the race, but wound up with a 17th place finish. #20-Joey Logano was second followed by #29-Clint Bowyer, #32-Brian Vickers, #60-Carl Edwards, #98-Paul Menard, #99-Scott Speed, #38-Jason Leffler, #27-Jason Keller, #12, Justin Allgaier. There were 9 cautions for 50 laps and 7 lead changes among 5 leaders.(Unofficial)(5-30-2009)

Dover Race Fast Facts:
* Brad Keselowski won the Heluva Good! 200, his third victory in 81 NASCAR Nationwide Series races.
* This is his first victory and seventh top-10 finish in 2009.
* This is his first victory and fourth top-10 finish in five races at Dover International Speedway.
* Joey Logano (second) posted his second top-10 finish in three races at Dover International Speedway.
* It is his eighth top-10 finish in 2009.
* Clint Bowyer (third) posted his sixth top-10 finish in seven races at Dover International Speedway.
* Justin Allgaier (10th) was the highest finishing rookie.
* Kyle Busch leads the point standings by 40 points over Carl Edwards.
(NASCAR Statistics)(5-30-2009)

Race Comments: Before an estimated crowd of 35,000, Brad Keselowski won the Heluva Good! 200, his third NASCAR Nationwide Series win. Prior to the start of the race, the following cars dropped to the rear of the field for the reasons indicated: Nos. 99, 15 and 47 (engine change); No. 38 (adjustments outside the impound period.).

Pit Stall Selections

Starting Lineup

Logano on pole in Dover #20-Joey Logano won the Coors Light pole for the Heluva Good! 200 at Dover with a record qualifying speeed of 155.959mph. #6-David Ragan starts second, followed by #18-Kyle Busch, #99-Scott Speed, #33-Kevin Harvick, #5-Ryan Newman, #32-Brian Vickers, #60-Carl Edwards, #62-Brendan Gaughan, and #98-Paul Menard. The only driver to not qualify was #31-Jeffrey Earnhardt.(5-30-2009)

Practice Speeds

Harvick fastest in Dover practice: #33-Kevin Harvick was fastest in the only practice session at Dover on Friday with a speed of 153.734mph. #60-Carl Edwards was second. The rest of the top 10: #18-Kyle Busch, #20-Joey Logano, #6-David Ragan, #38-Jason Leffler, #99-Scott Speed, #29-Clint Bowyer, #88-Brad Keselowski, and #32-Brian Vickers. Slowest were #23-Ken Butler, #87-Kevin Conway, and #07-Mike Harmon. There were 3 separate wrecks in the session: #87-Kevin Conway, #77-Peyton Sellers & #31 Jeffrey Earnhardt. All will go to a backups.(5-29-2009)

Entry List

Entry List: UPDATES: There are 48 cars on the preliminary entry list for Saturday's Heluva Good! 200 at Dover. Some notes:
David Green is listed as the driver of the #04 Chevy and will be eligible for a past champion's provisional;
Ryan Newman will be in the #5 for JR Motorsports;
Patrick Carpentier is listed in the #07, but another driver is expected in the car;
Kelly Bires is listed in the Braun Racing #10;
Jeffrey Earnhardt will attempt his series debut in the #31;
DJ Kennington will be back in the #81 for MacDonald Motorsports.
The #42 team is shown on the list, but noted as already withdrawn.(5-25-2009)UPDATE: Bobby Hamilton, Jr is now listed as the driver of the #81 McDonald Motorsports Dodge and the sponsor is AA Auto Warranty;
AND: The #36 Marc Davis team has withdrawn and Marc will be in the #10 Braun Racing Toyota in place of Kelly Bires.(5-26-2009)UPDATE 2: There are just 44 cars at the track. Changes from the preliminary list: The #04 team with David Green, the #41 team with Justin Hobgood and the #84-Mike Harmon team has withdrawn. Mike Harmon is now listed as the driver of the #07 SK Motorsports Toyota and Kevin Conway is in the #87 for Nemechek.(5-29-2009)

The fourth generation of one of NASCAR’s most popular families will be represented at Dover International Speedway.

Jeffrey Earnhardt (#31 Rick Ware Racing Chevy), the 19-year-old son of Kerry, great-grandson of Ralph, grandson of Dale Sr. and nephew of Dale Jr., will attempt his NASCAR national series debut. He’ll compete in the NASCAR Nationwide Series for Rick Ware Racing and a progressive schedule from short to intermediate tracks, up to seven races in order to maintain his rookie status in preparation to race fulltime next year.

He was fifth in the 2007 NASCAR Camping World Series East standings as a rookie and finished 15th last year. Father and son will pair with former NASCAR champion crew chief Paul Andrews until they do battle at Atlanta this fall. Thereafter, Clyde McCloud will serve as crew chief for the younger Earnhardt.

Kerry made his NASCAR Nationwide Series debut in 1998 at Myrtle Beach Speedway, finishing 23rd, while Dale Earnhardt Jr. debuted in the NASCAR Nationwide Series in 1997 at Nashville Speedway USA, finishing 39th. Dale Earnhardt won his — and the first — NASCAR Nationwide race in 1982 at Daytona International Speedway.

A Year Later: Logano Returns To Site Of National Series Debut

Last spring, Joey Logano (#20 GameStop Toyota) was introduced to the NASCAR Nationwide Series and a driver for Joe Gibbs Racing. After celebrating his 18th birthday the week before, he started his first series race — among considerable hype — at Dover on May 31.

He delivered, finishing sixth — disappointing in his book. He won his first pole the following week, then captured his first win — from the pole —- in just his third event. Later in the year he was tabbed to begin his NASCAR Sprint Cup career.

Fast-forward to this season. Logano is settling in nicely, running fourth in points in his fulltime NASCAR Nationwide Series ride and also has solid showings in his main focus, the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.

“There was a lot of hype surrounding my first Nationwide Series start,” Logano said. “I wasn’t immune to it, but pressure is something that has never bothered me. We are in a pressure sport and if you can’t take it you probably need to find something else to do.

“I had raced in some Camping World East Series races at Dover, so I knew my way around the track. I was confident when I woke up that day and really thought we had a chance to win. In the end we were just a little bit off. As much as I want to win every race, I knew I was still learning and sixth was a solid finish for my first start.”

Seat time may be the main factor for Logano’s success so far. He is racing against several drivers in NASCAR Nationwide Series races with whom he also competes in NASCAR Sprint Cup. That additional time allows him to learn more about the tracks, and he can gain confidence and experience as well.

David Ragan (#6 Discount Tire Ford) can relate. He started in the NASCAR Nationwide Series and after two seasons moved into NASCAR Sprint Cup. He finally broke through and won his first NASCAR Nationwide race last month at Talladega Superspeedway.

Will Bliss Victory Open The Floodgates?

Mike Bliss (#1 Miccosukee Resort Chevy) finally broke through for NASCAR Nationwide Series-only regulars last Saturday at Lowe’s Motor Speedway, scoring the first victory of the 2009 season for that group. Will that become a trend, and if so, who will continue it?

Six of the top 10 drivers in the point standings are NASCAR Nationwide-only drivers. Bliss’s victory moved him to ninth in the standings, and currently, he is only three points behind Raybestos Rookie of the Year candidate Brendan Gaughan (#62 US Fidelis Chevy), who finished second to Bliss at LMS. Jason Leffler (#38 Great Clips Toyota) is the highest- ranked of the NASCAR Nationwide-only competitors. He’s third behind leaders Kyle Busch (#18 Z-Line Designs Toyota) and Carl Edwards (#60 Scotts Ford), respectively.

Brad Keselowski (#88 GoDaddy.com Chevy) is still in search of that first NASCAR Nationwide Series victory of 2009 and is currently fifth, 22 points behind Joey Logano.

Other series-only regulars in the top 10 are Jason Keller (#27 Kleenex Ford) — one of several former Dover winners in the field — and rookie Justin Allgaier (#12 Verizon Wireless Dodge). Keller and Allgaier are currently ninth and 10th, respectively.

Marc Davis (#10 The Word Network & WHUR Radio Toyota). 18, is the youngest owner/driver in series history. He’s entered at Dover to go up against his former NASCAR Camping World Series East rivals Joey Logano and Jeffrey Earnhardt.

Davis was a teammate of Logano’s with Joe Gibbs Racing in the East series when he debuted last year at Memphis and started his last three NASCAR Nationwide races for Armando Fitz. His first two starts this year have been for his own Marc Davis Motorsports team. His best finish in his seven-race NASCAR Nationwide career is 23rd in his debut race.

Currently, Davis is 10th in the Raybestos Rookie of the Year standings.

Leffler: 200 Series Starts

Jason Leffler will make his 200th career seires start at Dover. The Long Beach, Calif. native made his series debut in 1999 at O’Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis. He spent several years racing partial schedules in all three of NASCAR’s top series before joining Braun Racing midway through the 2005 season. En route to his 200th start, Leffler has two wins (Nashville Superspeedway, 2004; ORP, 2007), 29 top-five and 67 top-10 finishes, eight poles.

In 11 NASCAR Nationwide Series starts at Dover, Leffler has three top-five and five top-10 finishes. His best performance at the one-mile track came in 2005 when he started 12th and finished third in Braun’s #32 entry.

Newman was perfect, at least once in his racing career. That was back in 2005 at Dover, when he scored a win and posted a perfect Driver Rating of 150.0. In that race, Newman had an Average Running Position of 1.1, 42 Fastest laps Run, led 193 of the 200 laps and was in the top 15 for each lap.

He’s also perfect when the series qualifies at Dover. In both of his Dover races – in 2001 and 2005 – Newman won the pole. He makes his NASCAR Nationwide Series return to Dover driving for JR Motorsports, his first run for the team.

Mike Bliss’ victory in Saturday night’s rain-shortened race at Lowe’s Motor Speedway may be the start of something big for the veteran driver.

Bliss now heads to a track at which he has enjoyed immense success – but no wins.

Last year he came close — as much as a driver can without winning. Bliss’ runner-up finish in the series’ last visit to Dover was his third top-10 finish in the last four races at the Monster Mile.

His Loop Data statistics there since the statistics’ inception in 2005 are among the best in the series. In his four Dover races over the last two seasons, Bliss has a Driver Rating of 105.2, an Average Running Position of 8.9, 48 Fastest Laps Run and a Laps in the Top 15 percentage of 82.5.

Also watch for 2007 series champion Carl Edwards to chip away Kyle Busch’s points lead. “Concrete Carl” loves the Dover track, winning there in 2007 and finishing in the top 10 in six of the last seven Dover races.

At Dover, Edwards has a Driver Rating of 113.0, an Average Running Position of 6.0 and 149 Fastest laps Run.

Seeking More Victories At Dover

Greg Biffle (#16 CitiFinancial Ford) already has two victories this season, and a third at Dover would put him in elite company.

Already a two-time winner at The Monster Mile, Biffle would tie Todd Bodine if he wins Saturday. Of the 10 drivers who have two Dover victories, Biffle is the only driver entered this weekend. Biffle’s wins came in 2002 and 2004.

Ryan Newman will be back in the series weekend at Dover. It marks Newman’s first race with JR Motorsports and he joins the 2009 lineup of Dale Earnhardt Jr., Mark Martin, Tony Stewart and Scott Wimmer. Newman made his first start of the season driving for Kevin Harvick Inc. in the #33 Chevy at Talladega.

Bobby Hamilton Jr. has a new gig this year in an ownership capacity with Eric McClure’s #24 Hefty Ford. Hamilton moved into that role with his former owner Ed Rensi to form Rernsi-Hamilton Racing for McClure’s ride. But Bobby Jr. rides again – making his season debut at Dover in the #81 AA Auto Warranty Dodge for MacDonald Motorsports. Hamilton’s last series start was at Homestead-Miami Speedway in 2008.

Forty-nine cars are vying for 43 spots this weekend. Among those running 31st through 35th respectively — and looking to make the field on speed — are Ken Butler III (#23 Aaron’s Chevy), Scott Wimmer, Morgan Shepherd, the #42 Eddie Smith-Evander Holifield-owned Dodge) and Casey Atwood.

Safe this week but on the bubble are Brian Keselowski (#26 Schweitzer Title Dodge; 29th in points) and Brandon Whitt (#61 Charlie Shoffner-owned Ford; 30th in points).

Etc.

In 13 previous NNS starts at Dover International Speedway, Kevin Harvick holds a record of three poles, two top five and seven top 10 finishes and has led 290 laps. As he makes his 14th series start there, the two-time series champion will aim to get his first win at the track and the second in the #33.

KHI newcomer J.R. Fitzpatrick (# 4 KHI Chevy) will be looking to repeat what his boss accomplished in 2000 — win a pole, lead several laps and earn a top 10 finish in his first start at Dover. Fitzpatrick, who has competed in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series this season, has only experienced Dover on racing simulators.

Veteran Jason Keller will make his 469th career start, and his car will sport a unique paint scheme. The new scheme will help K-C’s Montvale, N.J., based retail partner, The Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Co. (A&P), celebrate its 150th anniversary and support the grocer’s more than 20-year partnership with the Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA).

Toyota moved back in front in the manufacturer standings and leads Ford by one point heading to Dover.

Toyota swept both races in 2008 and currently is tied with Ford with four victories this season.

Chevy, which has three wins in 2009, is only five points out of the lead.

Chevy does have an advantage at Dover. It owns a track-record 26 NASCAR Nationwide Series wins.

Quick Stats For Dover

This will be the 51st NASCAR Nationwide Series at The Monster Mile.

Drivers will be aiming to break the qualifying mark of 157.916 mph, set in 2004 by former series champion David Green (#04 Gene Vess-owned Chevy).

Starting up front doesn’t necessarily mean finishing up front. In 50 previous races, only Morgan Shepherd in 1995, Joe Nemechek in 2003, Ryan Newman in 2005 and Kyle Busch last season have won from the pole; Nemechek the only driver to accomplish the feat in the spring. However, starting up front has been key, as more than half of all races (32 of 50) have been won from inside the top 10. The furthest back any driver has come from is 36th (Jeff Burton, 2006).

Six drivers have won multiple poles in NASCAR Nationwide Series competition at Dover. Series great Harry Gant leads all drivers with five.

Up Next: Nashville Superspeedway

Nashville Superspeedway will be the first track to host the series twice this season with next week’s Federated Auto Parts 300.

In the first race, Joey Logano rocked the guitar trophy for his first victory of 2009. Logano will try to match two-time series champion Martin Truex Jr. and become the second driver to win both Nashville races in one season. Truex did so in 2004.